1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to fishing bait, and more particularly, to live fishing bait organisms which are preserved by a process of cleaning, freeze drying, separating and packaging under certain conditions of temperature and application of vacuum, to preserve the nutrient constituency and the cellular integrity of the bait organisms. The organisms are packaged and stored without deterioration by bacteria, and can be restored by application of water to a life-like appearance and freshness which are attractive to feeding fish. It has been found that virtually any live bait organism can be effectively processed according to the method of this invention, including worms, crickets, shrimp, crawfish, grasshoppers, frogs and minnows, in non-exclusive particular. The time required for reconstitution of the processed bait organism is about 4 to 8 minutes, depending upon the specific organism chosen. Since the process has been carefully tailored to remove only water from bait organisms, all of the natural nutrients and tissue materials remain intact, and when water re-enters the tissues, the resulting organism closely resembles the original bait in appearance and odor.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The preservation of fishing bait by freeze drying and dehydration techniques has been known in the prior art for several years. U.S. Pat. No. 3,361,566 to H. R. Axelrod, discloses a "Freeze Dried Food Article for Aquatic Animals", which article is composed primarily of the freeze dried, high protein materials, including earth worms. The patented food article was developed primarily for aquarium use and is initially washed and freeze dried in shallow containers, after which the food is warmed to room temperature. The material is then separated into small pieces and may be coated with an adhesive for attachment to the aquarium wall. U.S. Pat. No. 3,528,816, to Shoichi Nagae, discloses a "Fish Bait With a Fish-Hook" which includes in one embodiment, placing the live bait on a fish hook and freezing the hook and bait to a temperature of about minus 25 degrees centigrade. The frozen bait is then kept in a vacuum desiccator for a certain period of time and is subsequently heated and packaged. The earth worm is restored by placing it in water and the combination is then ready for fishing since the worm is already placed on the hook.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,719,496, to Chen, et al., discloses "Articles of White Food for Feeding Aquatic Animals and Method of Manufacture" This patent details a high protein content food for fishes and like aquatic animals which is prepared by dehydrating selected worms, quickly freezing a mass of the dehydrated worms and then freeze drying the mass. U.S. Pat. No. 4,053,640, to Tadashi Takasugi, discloses a fishing bait and method of making same, which includes a fish bait, including raw fish, which has been ground and pulverized and blended with a surface active agent and subsequently freeze dryed. The bait is again pulverized after the freeze drying process and is then placed in a water permeable, sealable container. When placed in the water the bait thus manufactured allows the taste and smell to be dispersed throughout the water and attacts the fish.
One of the problems realized in the prior art of fishing bait preservation techniques and products is that of a capability for successfully preserving for a long period of time, a wide variety of bait organisms such as worms, crickets, crawfish, grasshoppers, frogs, shrimp and other bait organisms, many of which are fragile and difficult to handle.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a new and improved method of preserving fishing bait, which includes the steps of cleaning the fishing bait where such cleaning is necessary and pre-cooling the bait where such pre-cooling is desirable, and then freezing, sequentially condensing, evacuating and heating the bait organisms at specified temperatures and vacuum, and subsequently separating the fishing bait organisms where such separation is necessary, and packaging the bait.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a new and improved method for preserving fishing bait organisms which includes cleaning and pre-cooling the bait where such steps are necessary, as in the case of worms; reducing the temperature of the bait organisms to a pre-selected temperature which is below the eutectic for that organism; condensing water vapor around the organisms; evacuating the environment of the organisms for a specified period of time; heating the organisms to room temperature; separating the organisms; and packaging the organisms.
Still another object of this invention is to provide a new and improved method for preserving fishing worms which includes the steps of placing the fishing worms in a rotating screen to remove a quantity of bedding material adhering to the worms; removing additional bedding material from the worms by placing the worm mass in a stack or pile and allowing the bedding material to work to the top of the stack or pile as the worms move; pre-cooling trays for receiving the worms to a selected temperature; placing the worms in the trays and freezing the worms to a pre-selected temperature; condensing the water vapor; evacuating the environment containing the worms for a pre-selected period of time; heating the worms to room temperature; and placing the worms in a vibrating screen for separation, and packaging the worms.
A still further object of this invention is to provide a technique for preserving insects and other active organisms as fish bait, which includes the steps of pre-cooling the insects to reduce physical activity; freezing the insects to pre-selected temperature; condensing water vapor in the insect environment; evacuating the environment containing the insects to a preselected vacuum condition; heating the insects to room temperature; and packaging the insects.